Pelican M6 LED overdriven ?

popsgee

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I have the Pelican and the UK 4AA eLED, the Pelican is so much brighter. It is hard to believe that they both have 1 W luxeons. Or is the Pelican driven to normal specs and the UK under driven. :confused :
 

BillBill

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Even though I own neither light, I believe that the UK is underdriven because of the lack of heatsinking in the plastic body. The Pelican M6 is metal, so that allows the Luxeon to be driven at spec (or maybe a bit overdriven).
 

Doug Owen

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I own both. The UK is definitely underdriven (about half blast), and the M6 is overdriven (to maybe twice or a bit more.

At six volts, the UK pulls 147 mA, the M6 closer to 600. So that's .88 against 3.6 Watts, say four times more power *to the converters*. Hard to say for sure what's actually delivered, but there's no real comparison.

FWIW, I only did a quick check on the M6 but the UK is interesting:

V cur Fc
8 131 1850
7 137 1760
6 147 1700
5 163 1580
4 156 1380

The Fc is only relative, it was maybe 4 inches out and randomly aligned, but shows little real drop off, but does track power input (confirming it). You can see the effect of the regulator as the current drops off as the voltage goes up (or goes up as the battery goes down), it's 'getting into trouble' at four Volts, Vf is very close.

Also note I got brave and took it to 8 Volts. There seems to be little to fear from Li cells being a few tenths high, even a Volt or *two* was OK (in the open, for a few minutes only).

It's also worth noting that the LED is the star version, with the factory heat sink. The reflector body is *glued* on. Overall, a neat thing.

Both are. Both are recommended. But they are really different beasts all together.

Doug Owen
 

Semarin

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Interesting. These are two lights I was thinking of purchasing. I'll still probably get the M6, since the quality and brightness seems too good to pass up for $45.
 

redtrd

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The Princeton Tec Impact XL is also lot weaker than the PM6 . I'm assuming it's for the same reason as the UK light. Too bad they couldn't heat sink the LED better and make it brighter. When I go outdoors, I feel more secure with waterproof rated light.
 

Roy

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It's kinda hard to heat sink plastic! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif
 

Doug Owen

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[ QUOTE ]
Roy said:
It's kinda hard to heat sink plastic! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not needed either in this design. It's aimed at a market other than the 'I want it brighter than anything else ever made, and I don't care about how expensive or hard to find the battery is and how fast it goes through them' set we tend to represent. Try telling the straights that it uses a pair of 123 cells that they'll end up paying several dollars each for, and they only last 3 hours.

I think the maker is really more interested in selling lots of lights to the general buyer, rather than a few to the few.

Looked at another way, it gives a very useful level of light for a very long time on a common battery. It's got ten kinds of safety ratings, comes with alkaline cells to run it, and costs about half what the M6 does. For *most* customers, this is an easy choice. If I dabbled in stock, my bet would be on the UK not the M6.

Or so I see it.

Doug Owen
 

redtrd

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[ QUOTE ]
Doug Owen said:
[ QUOTE ]
Roy said:
It's kinda hard to heat sink plastic! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

It's not needed either in this design. It's aimed at a market other than the 'I want it brighter than anything else ever made, and I don't care about how expensive or hard to find the battery is and how fast it goes through them' set we tend to represent. Try telling the straights that it uses a pair of 123 cells that they'll end up paying several dollars each for, and they only last 3 hours.

I think the maker is really more interested in selling lots of lights to the general buyer, rather than a few to the few.

Looked at another way, it gives a very useful level of light for a very long time on a common battery. It's got ten kinds of safety ratings, comes with alkaline cells to run it, and costs about half what the M6 does. For *most* customers, this is an easy choice. If I dabbled in stock, my bet would be on the UK not the M6.

Or so I see it.

Doug Owen

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, it's nice to have long burn times using cheap AA batteries. Also a plus to be waterproof/resistant. Guess I just got more picky after I got my PM6 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

Doug Owen

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[ QUOTE ]
redtrd said:

I agree, it's nice to have long burn times using cheap AA batteries. Also a plus to be waterproof/resistant. Guess I just got more picky after I got my PM6 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup. Only logical solution I can see it 'get them both and see for yourself'. Science demands sacrafices. You gotta do it....

Doug Owen
 

popsgee

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Doug, thanks for the info. What do you think the life of the LED is for the M6 since it is overdriven by more than twice factory specs ?
 

chamenos

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probably still really long since its well heat-sinked /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

BigWonton

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By the time the LED goes poof, the amount of money that one would have put towards batteries makes the cost of mailing the flashlight back to Pelican for warranty service or even buying a new one, insignificant. I'm sure LED technology will also have advanced enough that you will be ready for a new flashlight by the time the LED dies in this thing.
 

JediKnife

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[ QUOTE ]
By the time the LED goes poof, the amount of money that one would have put towards batteries makes the cost of mailing the flashlight back to Pelican for warranty service or even buying a new one, insignificant.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've heard this said before, but it does not seem logical. Why would the amount of money spent on batteries make the cost of a new flashlight insignificant? That's analogous to saying the money one spends on gas for an automobile makes the cost of a new one insignificant.

JK
 

greenLED

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Definitely go with the M6. I'm loving every lux out of mine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Maybe there are "better" lights out there, but they'll cost you three times as much.
 

Doug Owen

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[ QUOTE ]
JediKnife said:


I've heard this said before, but it does not seem logical. Why would the amount of money spent on batteries make the cost of a new flashlight insignificant? That's analogous to saying the money one spends on gas for an automobile makes the cost of a new one insignificant.



[/ QUOTE ]

Not really, since the price of the gas is small compaired to the car.

How about "The cost of alamony makes the cost of a (second) marriage license insignificant"?

Doug Owen
 

Semarin

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[ QUOTE ]
greenled said:
Definitely go with the M6. I'm loving every lux out of mine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Maybe there are "better" lights out there, but they'll cost you three times as much.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did pickup a M6 LED last week, the thing is brighter than anticipated. Only thing I noticed was inside the lens on the reflecting area was a little smudge, almost like a fingerprint smear almost. Is it OK to wipe this off or ? I was told by the guy who I bought a replacement UCL lens from that area is easily scratched, so I'm scared to touch it without knowing if I can do so without making things worse. Anyone else notice anything like this with their M6's?
 

greenLED

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I don't know what the reflector is made of, any ideas?

***EDIT***

Don't touch the reflector!! Please see this thread. Let's wait for clarification. I should be /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banned2.gif
 

brightnorm

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Semarin,

I would suggest caution until you get more information. Some reflectors are harmed by even a gentle touch. If Search doesn't provide an answer why not post your question?

Brightnorm
 

Semarin

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Thanks, I shot Pelican an email to see what they have to say. I guess things happen in production sometimes, but I was just a bit surprised to see that marking inside there on an "above" average light like this. The beam still looks good to my eye, so I'm not sure if it's interfering with anything, but I sure don't have any of that gear to detect the exact beam pattern/brightness etc.. etc.. Heck, this is only my first luxeon led /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

Semarin

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greenled,

Just saw your post and the other thread, thanks. I'll wait until I hear back from one of the experts here or at Pelcian before I do anything.
 
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